Improvement in railroad-switches



D. ROUSSEAU.

.RA IL ROAD SWITCHES. I

Patented Nov.14,1876.

DAVID ROUSSEAU, OFNEW YORK,

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N.-Y., ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND WILLIAM 0. SMITH, OF SAME PLACE.

I IMPROVEMENT IN RAILRQA D-SWiTCHES.

Specificationforming part of Letters Patent No. R 84,430, dated November14,1876; application filed I September 19, 1876. I

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, DAVID ROUSSEAU, of NewYork city, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new andImproved Railroad Switch or Signal Movingand Interlocking Mechanism, ofwhich the following is a specification:

Figures 1, 2, and 3 are vertical transverse sections of my improvedrailroad switch or signal moving and interlocking mechanism, showing thesame in different positions. Fig. 4 is a front view of Fig. 1; Fig. 5, afront view of Fig. 2; Fig. 6, a top view of Fig. 1. Figs. 7,8, 9, and 10are views representing modifications thereof.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thefigures.

The object of this invention is tosimplify the arrangement andconstruction of parts that pertain to combined switch and signal movingand interlocking levers, the mechanism being of such nature that theswitch-moving lever will cause the signal-moving lever to be locked, andvice versa, whenever the position of the switch or of the signal renderssuch locking advisable or desirable.

The invention consists in combining aspringlever with a locking-bolt,whereby it will be automatically locked in the notch of the guide,

so that when so locked by said bolt the lever cannot be drawn out of thenotch and moved to set the switch or signal, all as hereinafter morefully described. The invention further consists in other details ofconstruction, hereinafter more fully pointed out.

In Figs. 1 to 6 I have represented two 'levers, A and B, the lever Abeing presumed to be connected with a switch, and the lever B with asignal pertaining to such switch, so that when the switch is in linewith the track having the signal, said signal will stand in the positionof safety 5 but when said switch is not in line with the track havingsuch signal, the signal is to stand in the position of danger. Now, thepurpose of the improved mechanism is to hold the switch locked, and toabsolutely prevent all motion thereof into a dangerous position untilafter the signal has been placed into the position of danger, and alsoso to lock the signal, when it is in the position of danger, that itcannot, by any possibility, be moved into the position of safety unlessthe switch is also and actually in the safe position respecting the lineof track to which such switch-signal pertains. The levers A and B arepivoted in a frame, G, by a joint or separate pin, d, and are capable ofmoving in straight guide-slots a and b, respectively. The end of eachofthese slots has a notch, into which the lever will'spring, as shown inFig. 6, the guide-slot of each lever being at such position respectingthe lower or pivoted end of its lever, laterally, that the lever, inmoving in the main part of guide-slot, will be sprung, and always havethe tendency to spring, into a notch as soon as it arrives in linetherewith. To each of these levers A and B is applied averticallysliding bolt, D, which has one or more pro-- jecting pins, 6,as shown. raised, as shown on the leve'rAof Fig. 4, will reach into theguide-slot of such lever, and prevent the lever from being swung out ofthe notch, and thereby from being moved along the guide-slot. In theframe 0 are also hung a series of shafts, E F G H, &'c., of which two,more or less, are hung at one side, and the others at the opposite side,of the frame 0, that side of the frame 0 at which the shafts E and F arehung being, for greater convenience, termed the front, and the otherside the back, part of the apparatus. The shaft E is, by a crank androd, f, connected with a crank of the shaft Gr, so that these twoshafts, when one is vibrated, will vibrate simultaneously, and the shaftF is, by a crank and rod, 9, likewise connected with the shaft H, sothat these two shafts will move simultaneously. The shafts E and H are,respectively, connected with,weights or springs h i, which tend to holdthem in a certain position, as hereinafter specified.

When the lever A is thrown back, as in Figs. 1 and 6, the switch ispresumed to be in position of danger, and at the same time the lever Bis also thrown back, as in Fig. 6, holding the signal with which suchlever acts also in the position of danger but while the two levers arein such position the boltD of the lever B is elevated into theguide-slot b, so as rrroa.

This bolt, when to prevent the lever B from being moved out of the notchinto which it is sprung. This elevated position of the bolt D of thelever- B is obtained by a finger,j, on the shaft G, which supports thesaid bolt D in its raised position by resting one of the pins 0 of suchbolt. The consequence of this position of parts is, that thesignal-lever B cannot be moved into the position of safety while theswitch remains in the position of danger. As soon as the lever A isthrown forward to move the switch into the position of F safety, and atthe very end of its forward stroke, said lever strikes a crank or toe ofthe shaft E, and thereby swings said shaft, and with it the shaft G,lowering, thereby the crank j, and causing the bolt D of the lever B todrop out of the slot b. This unlocks the lever B, and it is an importantfact that under my invention the signal-lever is not unlocked andallowed to be moved until the switch has reached the position of actualsafety.

Fig. 2 shows the position of parts after the lever A has been movedforward. If, now, the signal is also to be moved into the position ofsafety, it is simply necessary to swing the lever B out of the notch andmove it in the guide-slot b to the front of'the frame 0, Where it willspring into the other notch of the slot b; but as soon as such forwardmotion of the lever B is started, as in Fig. 3, the spring 13 will swingthe shaft H, and thereby also the shaft F, and cause a toe or crank, l,of the shaft F to bear under one of the pins 0 of the bolt D of thelever A, and to raise said bolt into the slot at, and lock the lever A,all as indicated in Fig. 3. Before the lever B was started in itsforward motion, a toe on the shaft H was pressed against it by theaction of the spring 73, to prevent the shaft 11 from being vibrateduntil after the lever B was moved away from such toe. Thus it is thatwhenever the switch-lever is in the position of danger the signal-leverwill be absolutely locked in the position of danger, and that it is notpossible to move the switchlever into the position of danger until afterthe original lever has been moved into the position of danger, for it isclear that the toe Z will not be drawn away from under the pin of thebolt of the lever A until after the signallever has again struck the toeof the shaft H.

Instead of placing the bolts D alongside of the levers A B, to whichthey are connected by suitable pins passing through slots, as indicatedin Figs. 2 and 3, I may apply a vibrating bolt to each lever, asindicated in Figs. 7 and 8, and cause the same, by a suitable toe on oneof the shafts, to be locked behind a lug, m, that projects from theframe 0 or the vibrating bolt may be caused to look into an extension ofthe guide-slot, as indicated in Fig. 9, or it may be pivoted to the sideof the lever A or B, as in Fig. 10, so as to project transversely lntothe guide-slot, until after a cam or finger on one of the shafts hasfolded it close against the lever, and allowed the latter to be moved;or a bolt may be connected in any other suitable manner, and operated byautomatic means, in substantially the manner stated.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination of the spring-lever with theadjustable bolt D, and with the notched guide-slot, all arranged so thatthe motion'of the lever B will affect the position of the bolt D,substantially as described.

2. In combination with the spring-leversA B and their bolts D D, theshafts E F G H and their fingers j Z, all arranged to act substantiallyas specified.

1 Sgned by me this 15th day of September,

DAVID ROUSSEAU. Witnesses:

ERNEST G. WEBB, F. V. BRIESEN.

